ATTENDANT

Say on and make it plain, that what my tongue utters may accord with what thou hast written.

AGAMEMNON

"Daughter of Leda, in addition to my first letter I now send thee word not to despatch thy daughter to Euboea's embosomed wing, to the to the waveless bay of Aulis; for after all we wiltlelebrate our child's wedding at another time."

ATTENDANT

And how will Achilles, cheated of his bride, curb the fury of his indignation against thee and thy wife?

AGAMEMNON

Here also is a danger.

ATTENDANT

Tell me what thou meanest.

AGAMEMNON

It is but his name, not himself, that Achilles is lending, knowing nothing of the marriage or of my scheming or my professed readiness to betroth my daughter to him for a husband's embrace.

ATTENDANT

A dreadful venture thine king Agamemnon! thou that, by promise of thy daughter's hand to the son of the goddess, wert for bringing the maid hither to be sacrificed for the Danai.

AGAMEMNON

Woe is me! ah woe! I am utterly distraught; bewilderment comes o'er me. Away hurry thy steps, yielding nothing to old age.

ATTENDANT

In haste I go, my liege.

AGAMEMNON

Sit not down by woodland founts; scorn the witcheries of sleep.

ATTENDANT

Hush!

AGAMEMNON

And when thou passest any place where roads diverge, cast thine eyes all round,-taking heed that no mule-wain pass by on rolling wheels, bearing my daughter hither to the ships of the Danai, and thou see it not.

ATTENDANT

It shall be so.

AGAMEMNON

Start then from the bolted gates, and if thou meet the escort, start them back again, and drive at full speed to the abodes of the Cyclopes.

ATTENDANT

But tell me, how shall my message find credit with thy wife or child?

AGAMEMNON

Preserve the seal which thou bearest on this scroll. Away! already the dawn is growing grey, lighting the lamp of day yonder and the fire of the sun's four steeds; help me in my trouble. -

Exit ATTENDANT. -

None of mortals is prosperous or happy to the last, for none was ever born to a painless life. -

Exit AGAMEMNON. -

Enter CHORUS OF WOMEN OF CHALCIS. -

CHORUS

To the sandy beach of sea-coast Aulis I came after a voyage through the tides of Euripus, leaving Chalcis on its narrow firth, my city which feedeth the waters of far-famed Arethusa near the sea, that I might behold the army of the Achaeans and the ships rowed by those god-like heroes; for our husbands tell us that fair-haired Menelaus and high-born Agamemnon are leading them to Troy on a thousand ships in quest of the lady Helen, whom herdsman Paris carried off from the banks of reedy Eurotas-his guerdon from Aphrodite, when that queen of Cyprus entered beauty's lists with Hera and Pallas at the gushing fount.

Through the grove of-Artemis, rich with sacrifice, I sped my course, the red blush mantling on my cheeks from maiden modesty, in my eagerness to see the soldiers' camp, the tents of the mail-clad Danai, and their gathered steeds. Two chieftains there I saw met together in council; one was Aias, son of Oileus; the other Aias, son of Telamon, crown of glory to the men of Salamis; and I saw Protesilaus and Palamedes, sprung from the son of Poseidon, sitting there amusing themselves with intricate figures at draughts; Diomedes too at his favourite sport of hurling quoits; and Meriones, the War-god's son, a marvel to mankind, stood at his side; likewise I beheld the offspring of Laertes, who came from his island hills, and with him Nireus, handsomest of all Achaeans; Achilles next, that nimble runner, swift on his feet as the wind, whom Thetis bore and Chiron trained; him I saw upon the beach, racing in full armour along the shingle and straining every nerve to beat a team of four horses, as he sped round the track on foot; and Eumelus, the grandson of Pheres, their driver, was shouting when I saw him. goading on his goodly steeds, with their bits of chased goldwork; whereof the centre pair, that bore the yoke, had dappled coats picked out with white, while the trace-horses, on the outside, facing the turning-post in the course, were bays with spotted fetlocks. Close beside them Peleus' son leapt on his way, in all his harness, keeping abreast the rail by the axle-box.